Franklin Ramon Chang-Díaz (born April 5, 1950,

San José, Costa Rica San José (; meaning "Saint Joseph") is the capital city, capital and largest city of Costa Rica, and the capital of San José Province. It is in the center of the country, in the mid-west of the Costa Rican Central Valley, Central Valley, wi ...

) is a Costa Rican-American

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, physicist, and former NASA astronaut. He is the sole founder and CEO of

Ad Astra Rocket Company The Ad Astra Rocket Company, a U.S. Delaware corporation, is a rocket propulsion company dedicated to the development of advanced plasma rocket propulsion technology. Located in Webster, Texas, three miles away from NASA's Johnson Space Center ...

as well as a member of the

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

' board of directors. He became an American citizen in 1977., ''

Wired Science ''Wired Science'' was a weekly television program that covered modern scientific and technological topics. In January 2007 PBS aired pilot episodes for three different science programs, including ''Wired Science''. Using Nielsen ratings, CPB-sp ...

'', November 14, 2007 He is a veteran of seven

Space Shuttle missions The Space Shuttle is a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a sy ...

, tying the record, as of 2021 for the most

spaceflights Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such as ...

(a record set two months earlier by Jerry L. Ross). He was the third

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

, and the first Latin American immigrant NASA astronaut selected to go into space. Chang-Díaz is a member of NASA's

Astronaut Hall of Fame The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located inside the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Heroes & Legends building on Merritt Island, Florida, honors American astronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memor ...

Family and education

Franklin Ramón Chang-Díaz was born in

on April 5, 1950, to Ramón Ángel Chang Morales, an oil worker whose own father fled from China during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

, and María Eugenia Díaz. One of six children, he has a younger sister, Sonia Rosa (born December 1952) and his mother, brothers and sisters still reside in Costa Rica. His two eldest daughters with his ex-wife Candice Chang, include Sonia Rosa, who is a member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

. He married Dr. Peggy Marguerite Doncaster (''née'' Stafford, of

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat and largest city of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River ...

), in the United States, on December 17, 1984. They have two daughters, both born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

.Consultas de hechos y actos civiles y electorales
Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones. Retrieved: May 5, 2012
La Nación. Retrieved: May 5, 2012 Space Shuttle Mission STS-75 Press Kit
NASA February 1996 He graduated from Colegio de La Salle in San Jose with an "A" grade in November 1967, then moved to the United States to finish his

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

education at

Hartford Public High School Hartford Public High School, in Hartford, Connecticut, was founded in 1638. It is the second-oldest public secondary school in the United States, after the Boston Latin School. It is part of the Hartford Public Schools district. Notable alumni ...

in Connecticut, in 1969. He went on to attend the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

, where he earned a B.S. degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

and joined the federal TRIO Student Support Services program in 1973.Spacefacts Biography of Franklin Chang-Diaz
''Spacefacts'' Retrieved July 18, 2011 He then attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT), where he earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree in applied

plasma physics Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including th ...

in 1977. For his graduate research at

(MIT), Chang-Díaz worked in the field of fusion technology and plasma-based

rocket propulsion A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to Acceleration, accelerate without using any surrounding Atmosphere of Earth, air. A rocket engine produces thrust by Reaction (physics), reaction to exhaust ex ...

. Post-graduation from

(MIT) in 1979, Chang-Díaz was responsible for developing a novel technique that used an inertial fusion reactor chamber to accurately align fuel pellets to collide with one another in order to create a fusion event.

NASA career

Chang-Díaz was selected as an astronaut candidate by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

in 1980, and first flew aboard Space Shuttle mission

STS-61-C STS-61-C was the 24th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh mission of Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. It was the first time that ''Columbia'', the first space-rated Space Shuttle orbiter to be constructed, had flown since STS-9 ...

in 1986. Subsequent missions included

STS-34 STS-34 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using ''Atlantis''. It was the 31st shuttle mission overall, and the fifth flight for ''Atlantis''. STS-34 launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 18, 1989, and landed at Edwards Air For ...

(1989),

STS-46 STS-46 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using and was launched on July 31, 1992, and landed on August 8, 1992. Crew Crew seat assignments Mission highlights Gallery File:Sts046-99-039 - cropped.jpg, EURECA after deployment File ...

(1992),

STS-60 STS-60 was the first mission of the U.S./Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, and the 18th flight of Discovery, in which Sergei K. Krikalev became the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a Space Shuttle. The mission used NASA Space Shuttle ''Disc ...

(1994),

STS-75 STS-75 was a 1996 NASA Space Shuttle mission, the 19th mission of the orbiter. Crew Crew seat assignments Mission objective Tethered Satellite System The primary objective of STS-75 was to carry the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TS ...

(1996),

STS-91 STS-91 was the 24th flight of Discovery, and the final Space Shuttle mission to the '' Mir'' space station. It was flown by Space Shuttle ''Discovery'', and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 2 June 1998. Crew Crew seat assignme ...

(1998), and

STS-111 STS-111 was a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-111 resupplied the station and replaced the Expedition 4 crew with the Expedition 5 crew. It was launched on 5 June 2002, fr ...

(2002). During STS-111, he performed three extravehicular activities (EVAs) with

Philippe Perrin Philippe Perrin (Colonel, French Air Force) (born January 6, 1963) is a French test pilot, engineer and former CNES and European Space Agency astronaut. He served as mission specialist on the STS-111 mission where he conducted three spacewalks a ...

as part of the construction of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS). He was also director of the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory at the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

from 1993 to 2005. Chang-Díaz retired from NASA in 2005.

Post-NASA career

After leaving NASA, Chang-Díaz set up the

, which became dedicated to the development of advanced plasma rocket propulsion technology. Years of research and development have produced the

Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electrothermal thruster under development for possible use in spacecraft propulsion. It uses radio waves to ionize and heat an inert propellant, forming a plasma, then a magnetic ...

(VASIMR), an electrical propulsion device for use in space. With a flexible mode of operation, the rocket can achieve very high exhaust speeds, and with a sufficiently powerful electrical supply even has the theoretical capability to take a crewed rocket to Mars in 39 days. Chang-Díaz also is active in

environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

and raising awareness about climate change, notably in his role in Odyssey 2050 The Movie in which he encourages young people to get motivated about environmental issues. In addition, he is an adjunct professor in physics and astronomy at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

. He has been on the board of directors of Cummins since December 8, 2009. He is also the father of Democratic candidate for the

2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election The 2022 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Massachusetts. Republican Party (United States), Republican former state representative Geoff Diehl, Democratic Party (United States), Democr ...

Sonia Chang-Díaz Sonia Rosa Chang-Díaz (born March 31, 1978) is an American politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate from the 2nd Suffolk district as a member of the Democratic Party. She was the first Hispanic woman elected to the state senate. She ...

Awards and honors

In 1986, Franklin Chang-Díaz was one of twelve recipients of the

Medal of Liberty The Medal of Liberty was awarded in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan as part of the festivities commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''). The awarding of this medal took place only once, as i ...

. He was inducted into the NASA

on May 5, 2012 in a ceremony that took place in the

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tou ...

. Also, due to his career and scientific success, he has been decorated multiple times in Costa Rica and named Honor Citizen by the national legislature. The Costa Rican National High Technology Center (CeNAT), among other institutions, is named after him. In 2014, Chang-Díaz was awarded the "

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin ( ; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three extravehicular activity, spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eag ...

Quadrennial Space Award" by

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for ex ...

. Buzz Aldrin, whom Chang-Díaz called a childhood hero, presented the award.

References

External links